KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Sammy Watkins told anyone who would listen that he was poised for a resurgent season.
The Chiefs wide receiver was healthy for the first time in what seemed like forever. He toiled tirelessly on the practice fields all summer with quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He refined his route-running, protected his body and arrived at Week 1 in better shape than ever.
It showed. All of it.
The former fourth overall pick of the Buffalo Bills, who for years has underachieved at best and been considered a bust at worst, dominated the touted Jacksonville defense. Watkins hauled nine passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns, pacing the Chiefs to a 40-26 rout in last weeks opener.
I know how to practice now and I know what coach wants out of me, Watkins said. So if I come out every day at practice and put the work in, I think hard work and practice lead to great games.
Ive got to continue to just stack that and move forward to the next game.
The next game comes Sunday in Oakland.
The pressure will be on Watkins, too. Not only will he try to replicate his big-play performance against the Jaguars, hell be counted on to pick up some slack for injured star Tyreek Hill.
Hill fractured his collarbone early on against Jacksonville, and that was a big reason Mahomes kept going back to Watkins all game. But with Hill sidelined for at least a month and possibly much longer it falls on the Chiefs No. 2 receiver to produce like a No. 1 target.
Just as he did last week.
Weve said it all offseason: Sammy, the way he has prepared his body, the way hes practiced. He really understands the offense at a different level than he did last year, Mahomes said.
I mean, the first play that he scored, whatever-yard touchdown that was, he was like the third or fourth read, he made someone miss and he scored. So, just having a better understanding of the full offense lets him play faster and he can see that the offseason is paying off.
For the record, that was a nifty 68-yard scoring strike in which Watkins made Jaguars star Jalen Ramsey look bad. He later hauled in a 49-yard touchdown strike before adding a short TD catch in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on the best game of his career.
The yardage was a career best. So was the touchdown total.
